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0. M. BENNETT.

TORPBDO. No. 432,259. Patented July 15, 1890.

W'TYEM v C; 2 3%ENL2R'. 4i; 7% wen m $2 7 2 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES M. BENNETT, OF LOGANSPORT, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF, JAMES J. TURNER, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, AND LEONOR F. LOREE, OF CASS COUNTY, INDIANA.

TORP EDO.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 432,259, dated July 15, 1890.

Application filed May 12, 1890.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that'I, CHARLES M. BENNETT, of Logansport, county of Cass, State of Indiana,

have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Railway-Torpedoes, of which the following is a true and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to the construction of what are known as railway-torpedoes, and which consists of a small sheet-metal box containin g an explosive, and to which is attached some device for securing it upon a railroad- I 5 rail. When a torpedo of this kind is placed on the rail and is struck by the wheel of a locomotive or car passing over said rail, it explodes with a loud noise, thus notifying the engineer to proceed with caution. The de- 2o vice is used by trainmen to prevent a train following the one on which they are from coming dangerously close to them. The defeet of these torpedoes as heretofore c011- structed has been that they gave no notice of the time'at which they were placed upon the track, and the engineer of the train exploding them was thus notified to proceed with caution, notwithstanding the fact that the train giving the warning might have passed the point where the torpedo was attached any length of time before it was exploded.

The object of my invention is to provide a railway-torpedo .which will remain upon the track for a determined length of time only,

3 5 so that atrain sufficiently far behind the one giving the warnin g will not be interfered with.

The nature of my invention will be best understood as described in connection with 40 the drawings in which it is illustrated; and the novel features which I desire to claim are hereinafter clearly set forth in the claims.

Figure 1 is a transverse sectional view through the head of a railway-rail and of my improved torpedo secured upon it. Fig. 2 is a plan View of the section line X X of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 illustrates a modified construction of my device.

A is the head of a rail; B, a box, which,

as indicated in Fig. l, is divided into two compartments Z) Z) by a partition 0, while in Fig. 3 the box B is divided into two compartments by an annular ring 0.

D is a time-fuse, which, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, is coiled on the bottomof the chamher I) of box B, and, as shown in Fig. 3, is coiled spirally in the annular chamber formed between the partition 0 and the outer wall of the box. One end of this time-fuse, in the figures referred to, communicates with the exoo plosive substance which is contained in the other chamber of the box, and preferably I secure to this end of the time-fuse a fulminatting-cap. (Indicated by the letterE.) The other end of the time-fuse is led to the outside of the chamber in which it is contained, and through which a passage, as 12 is formed for that purpose, and this end (indicated by the letter d) is the one which is ignited. In order to keep the coils of the time-fuse from coming in contact with each other, I have indicated in Fig. l a grooved plate G, upon which the coils of the fuse can lie, the projections corresponding in form to the coil and serving to keep its parts apart. In Fig. 3 a similar separation of the coils is effected by forming the plate 0 with projections c, be tween which the layers of the coil rest.

F F are arms secured to the bottom of the torpedo-box B and extending down the sides of the rails, thus serving to hold the torpedo in place upon the rail. These arms are most conveniently made of spring metal, so that they will clamp the head of the rail and keep the torpedo securely in position.

The devices above referred to are alike in that the fuse when ignited will after a certain time communicate with and explode the charge of the torpedo, thus entirely dissipating it.

In Fig. 3 I have shown a layer II of nonconductingmaterial separating the explosive charge from the wall or partition 0, thus excluding any appreciable heat derived from the combustion of the fuse from the explosive-chamber.

A fulminating-cap is not essential under all conditions, but is desirable to insure the explosion of the materials generally used in torpedoes of this kind. As showu,the timefuse D is inclosed in the box B, and this is desirable, because the torpedo is thus made compact and of convenient form, and the f use protected from wet. The device would be useful, however, if the fuse were coiled outside the box and protected and attached in any convenient way.

My improved torpedo is placed on the rail in the usual way, and will, like those in use, explode as soon as struck bya passing wheel, thus giving the desired cautionary signal. At the time of placing it, however, the fuse is lighted, and being regulated to burn for a determined time it will at the expiration of that time explode the charge in the box, either directly or by means of a cap E, and the torpedo is thus self-removed from the rail and the giving of an unnecessarycautionary signal avoided. It is obvious, of course, that my self-removing torpedo is a much more valuable signal for practical use than those not having its novel feature.

In order to provide a convenient and always-ready means for igniting the time-fuse, I prefer to coat. the projecting end (Z of the fuse with some preparatiousuch as is used on match-hea'ds-and which will ignite by friction, and for safetyI prefer that this composition should be one such as is used with safety-matches, and the composition on which the match will ignite is thus placed at any convenient spot upon the torpedo case orbox.

Having 110w described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

the wall of the box into the explosive, and by V which it can be exploded in a determined time.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a selfremoving railway-torpedo having, in combination, a box divided by a partition into two compartments, a device for securing said box to a rail, an explosive adapted to be exploded by the concussion of a wheel contained in one compartment of the box, and a time-fuse coiled in the second compartment of the box connecting at one end with the explosive and at the other extending through the box-wall, all substantially as specified.

As a new article of manufacture, a selfremoving railway-torpedo having, in combination, a box divided by a partition into two compartments, a device for securing said box to a rail, an explosive adapted to be exploded by the concussion of a wheel contained in one compartment of the box, a fulminating-cap situated in thcexplosive, andatime-f use coiled in the second chamber of the box communicating at one end with the cap and at the other extending beyond the wall of the box, all substantially as specified.

CHARLES M. BENNETT.

Witnesses:

L. S. PURCELL, W. S. WHrrELY. 

